WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates women's swimming and diving team opened the NESCAC Championships Thursday night at Colby with a pair of strong performances in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

The Bates 'A' team of senior captain Stephanie Tropper (Solon, Ohio), sophomore Cora Zuwallack (East Falmouth, Mass.), sophomore Sophia Clausman (Edina, Minn.), and first-year Taylor Rolefson (Piedmont, Calif.) entered the meet with a seed time of 7:45.83. They were able to chop a pair of seconds off that mark to finish in sixth place out of 23 teams with a time of 7:43.46. 

Meanwhile, the 'B' team of junior Emma Burke (New Hartford, N.Y.), junior Lily Barisonek (New Vernon, N.J.), first-year Erin Barisonek (New Vernon, N.J.), and first-year Isabelle Chou (East Greenwich, R.I.) knocked 15 seconds off their seed time of 8:05.61, finishing in 7:50.17, which was good for 20th place. 

Combined, the two relay teams scored 56 points, good for seventh out of 11 NESCAC schools. The Bobcats are just four points behind fifth-place Connecticut College, and they are currently ahead of rivals Colby and Bowdoin.

The first full day of the NESCAC Championships is Friday, with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.